The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of the so-called seven sisters of the mainline. These denominations think of themselves as being the Ivy Leagues of the Protestant churches but, for the most part, they have become caricatures of themselves. They long ago fulfilled the predictions their critics (e.g., Machen) made about them a century ago, e.g., ordaining people who deny the faith. In the latest episode, the ELCA has suspended a “transgender” bishop, Megan Rohr, not for violating the natural and moral law of God nor for mental illness but, according to a news report, for making racist comments. Church authorities did “not specify Rohrer’s allegedly racist offenses, but did say that the suspension was connected to ‘recent harm done by the Sierra Pacific Synod Council and Bishop Rohrer to the Latinx community in Stockton, CA.’ ELM explained that they had been mulling the suspension for much of 2021, leading to the creation of a formal accountability team and process.”
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- Resources On LGBTQ And Revoice
- From “Insofar As” To “Good Faith:” The Slope To The Mainline
- Are Mainline Baptisms Valid?
- Silencing Dissent In The “Liberal” Mainline
- Laura Smit On The Foolishness Of Romantic Dreams About The Mainline
- Do Mainlines Renew?
- EPC Moves Toward the Mainline and the Mainline Moves Toward the DrainMore Bad News For The Mainline
- More Bad News For The Mainline
- Mainline Presbyterians (PCUSA) Continue Decline
- Mainline, Sideline, or Borderline?
- Machen’s Memo to Christians in the Mainline
- Mainline Escapades: Union Seminary VA Hosts the You-Know-What Monologues
- The Incredible Shrinking Mainline
- The New York Times, Sioux Center, And Calvinism
R. Scott Clark
R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.
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In the UK, unlike the US, we have two Mainline churches that are established by law, i.e., they claim to be the embodiment of the Establishment Principle, that the magistrate has a duty to support true religion, namely, the Church of England and the Church of Scotland (The organisation called “The Church of Scotland” disestablished itself, but some groups separated from it claim to be the true Church of Scotland established by law. Also there are groups separated from the CofE, claiming to be the true CofE). Clergy that stay within these churches that have thought their position through do so on the grounds that they will be the true servants of the Crown in maintaining true religion, in contrast to others who wear the cloth in vain.